Word: carnets
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...sensation of being transported to other places and cultures through the unique language of comix, look no further than Craig Thompson's "Carnet de Voyage" (Top Shelf; 224 pages; $15). Creator of the lauded and successful graphic novel "Blankets," Thompson's introductory insistence that "Carnet" is not his "next book," tries to disarm any critics, but he needn't have worried. Seemingly unedited, "Carnet" chronicles, in the form of an engrossing diary sketchbook, Thompson's European author tour, with a side trip to Morocco, during the spring of 2004. With all of its pages drawn from life, here at last...
...page from the Morocco section of Craig Thompson's "Carnet de Voyage...
...Carnet" eschews panels and layouts in favor of life sketches or quick cartoons, mixed with explanatory text. The book begins in France with lovely renderings of rooftops, caf?s and the people he meets. But in the margins the text reveals an undercurrent of loneliness and anxiety. Slowly you catch on that the tour comes on the heels of a major breakup and that someone, presumably his ex-lover, has become seriously ill back in the States. (The details stay frustratingly obtuse.) In spite of this Thompson continues on to Marrakech, alone. His three weeks in North Africa result in complex...
...their own. In spite of all this, Thompson continues to struggle with the alienation of travel. Then, at last he makes a happy connection that, even if it didn't happen, would have to be made up for the sake of book's dramatic arc. By the end, "Carnet de Voyage," turns into a kind of melancholy picture poem of love for people, the environment and art. You can't ask much more from a travel book than that...
...table by half this year but have tentatively announced a bigger profit than ever with Dan Clowes' latest issue of "Eightball" #23, their top-seller. Georgia's Top Shelf had a remarkable eight new releases debuting at the con, including "Blankets" author Craig Thompson's book of travel sketches, "Carnet de Voyage," which sold out. Another debut sell-out was James Kochalka's "American Elf," collecting all four volumes of his diaries (see TIME.comix review...